Effective treatment of simultaneous small cell lung cancer and B-cell lymphoma

Malignant lymphomas have been reported previously to coincide with adenocarcinomas of the stomach and, rarely, the kidney, breast, colon, liver, or lung. Here, we describe the first case to our knowledge of a malignant lymphoma and an extensive disease small cell cancer of the lung. A 60-year-old male was admitted for severe back pain and was found to have multiple enlarged lymph nodes, hepatosplenomegaly, and bilateral pleural effusions. A B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was diagnosed from biopsies of the stomach and liver. Further staging revealed a dense infiltration of the bone marrow by both a small cell lung cancer and a malignant lymphoma. Both tumors responded well to chemotherapy. This unique case report demonstrates that the simultaneous occurrence of small cell lung cancers and malignant lymphomas is extremely rare and may effectively be treated with chemotherapy.